Ropes & Gray Represents Altice S.A. on Largest Leveraged Finance Deal in Europe

April 7, 2014

Ropes & Gray recently advised long-standing client Altice S.A., in connection with the financing of its proposed acquisition of SFR, through its subsidiary Numericable Group, from Vivendi S.A.

Altice intends to fund the acquisition through a combination of U.S. and European high yield debt, covenant lite loans, revolving loans, and an equity rights issuance. The total cash consideration required is in excess of €15 billion.

The financing package was handled by the London office of Ropes & Gray and constitutes the largest leveraged finance deal in Europe since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Finance partner Michael Kazakevich led the Ropes & Gray team, assisted by finance partner Michael Goetz and tax partner Brenda Coleman, alongside associates Sara Clevering and Ilce Kozaroski (all of London).

“This was a great team effort working closely with Altice to a tight deadline, and demonstrating our ability to work smoothly across U.S. and European bank and bond products on complex debt structure transactions with challenging issues.” said Mr. Kazakevich.

This deal closely follows the financing for Liberty Global’s acquisition of Ziggo, further cementing Ropes & Gray’s prominent position in the leveraged finance market and in the cable finance industry.

Ropes & Gray is one of the world’s premier law firms, with more than 1,100 lawyers and legal professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology and government. The firm has offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul, and has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including private equity, M&A, life sciences, health care, finance, investment management, hedge funds, tax, intellectual property, litigation, securities litigation, government enforcement and privacy & data security.